Reed-organ



UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE- JAMES BAILLIE HAMILTON, OF VOROESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

REED-ORGAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 363,386, dated May 24, 1887,

Application filed December 20, 1886. Serial No. 222,066. (No model.)

T to whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES BAILLI'E HAMIL- TON, of Worcester, in the county of Worcester, of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in Reed-Organs; and I do-hereby declare the same to be described in the following specification and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of two vertical series of reed-chambers, their valves, and the the valves as open.

operative mechanisms of the latter in accordance with my invention, the nature of which is defined in the claims hereinafter presented, the valves in such figure being shown as closed. Fig. 2 is a like elevation, but showing one of Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken just above the valves,while Fig. 4 is a similar section taken through the said valves. Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken through one of the valves, its series of reeds and reed-chambers, or the induction and eduction passages of such reeds. v

One object of my improvement is to secure ready access to any of the reeds without disturbance of the structural conditions necessary, for qualifying its tone. In order to accomplish this I employ devices by which a tuner can gain access to the reed through its valveseat.

The sound-board to which my invention is applicable consists, as shown in the drawings, of reed-boards arranged in tiers, and having to each reed an induction and an eduction passage, the reed being between said passages, all as shown in Fig. 5, in which each reed of a tier is' represented at A, its induction-passage at I, and its eduction-passage at E, the latter passage being open at its rear end and the. former passage at its front end. The mouths of the induction-passages are shown at a a, &c., there being to each series of such mouths a valve, B, which, as shown, has the form of a right-angled triangular prism. The vertical series are side by side or in pairs,with their valves arranged as represented in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, the two valves at their next adjacent edges being hinged to the sound-board, so as to open as well as close in opposite directions relatively to each other.

Each reed is inserted in its induction-passage or reed-cl1amber, the tip of the tongue of the reed being toward the mouth of the passage or chamber. By opening the valve sufficiently access may be easily had to the reed for its withdrawal or to the reed-chamber for the insertion of the reed therein, as occasion may require. Each valve is hinged at its edge rather than at one end of it, as usually heretofore practiced.

There projects from each valve, at its middle, a small screw or knob, b, for the purpose of'enabling a tuner to open the valve by pulling on the knob. A similar knob or screw, 0, projects from each valve at each end of it and bears against a bent spring, a, affixed to and extending from the sound board, as represented. Furthermore, to open each valve there is a right-angular lever, D, which, fulcrumed to the sound-board and arranged as shown, has its upper or vertical arm directly in rear of and against a cushion, f, fixed upon a stud, extending from the valve. From the lower or horizontal arm of the said lever a wire, it, extendsvdownward. Such wire at its lower end is to be supposed to be so connected with a key of the organ as to be drawn downwardly thereby on such key being struck by a performer. The valve may thus be opened by a key, or, in case of it being required to open it to gain access to a reed, such valve may be turned backward ninety degrees of a circle, so as to entirely uncover the mouths of the reed-chambers, in which case the springs used to close the valve will operate to hold it open. It will be seen that in so turning back the valve it moves away from the lever and meets with no obstruction therefrom, the closed valve serving as an abutment for arresting the rearward movement of the opened valve.

In order to economize space, I arrange the valves in pairs set back to back, so that each one of the pair forms a basis for hinging the other and enables the space or joint between the valves to be securely covered by a sheet of leather, Z, glued upon the next 0011- tiguous faces of the two valves.

I do not claim in a reed-organ the COIIlblllEt tion of a reed-cell with a pallet or valve actuated by a key and provided with an opening through which the reed may be drawn when such opening is not closed; nor do I claim in a reed-organ the combinationof a series of reed-cells arranged in a line with a pallet connected at one end to the key and at the other to a stationary piece or part, said pallet having an oblique movement; nor do I claim the eoinbinatiomwith aserics of cells and reeds, of a palet having an oblique movement to and from them, and having a series of openings through which the reeds may be drawn when the pallet is open or such openings are nuclosed, all being. as shown and described in the United States Patent N 0. 301,000, for in my improvement each valve is without any such opening or openings and any means of closing such, and the reeds are not introduced or withdrawn through the valve.

I claim- 1. The combination of two vertical series of reeds and their induction and eduetiou chain-- bers with two valves applied to the induction ends of such chambers, and arranged close to each other and hinged to the sound-board, so as to open in opposite directions therefrom to uncover the mouths of the said chambers.

2. The combination, with each vertical series of reeds and their induction and eduction chambers and a valve applied against the induction ends of such chambers, of springs and studs to close such valve or hold it open and of a lever and its operative rod, arranged as described, with a projection from the valve, all being substantially as set forth.

JAMES BAILLTE HAMILTON. Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, R. B. Tommy. 

